Chapter 6

  The Mayor led me away from the shop, down enough streets to let me recognize the town was built in a grid-like manner, before we reached the obvious boundaries of the town. A metal fence, about waist high, ran the distance of the border, and glancing left and right showed it ended in sharp, ninety degree angles. The town was, therefore, built on a square expanse.

  We walked towards a small gate in the fence, a basic little thing that looked like a metal knockoff of those gates on white picket fences in the suburbs. He opened it, the metal squeaking in protest, and motioned me forward. As I walked past him, I felt a strange shiver run through my body. Like I’d just passed through a dense bit of humidity. It was like the first step outside at an airport when you’ve flown from a place with no humidity, like Colorado, to say, Florida. It was uncomfortable but lasted only for a moment. That last bit is what really stood out to me, and my mind question what I’d just felt.

  “That’s the city ward,” the Mayor answered as he closed the gate, as if he could read my mind. “Every city has one. The more important the city, the stronger the ward, and the wider the boundaries can be pushed out. It keeps wild Mun under a certain level from being able to breach our walls.”

  “Oh, that’s neat.” I said, my eyes already scanning our surroundings. There was definitely a mountain behind the town, that much was clear. The town itself was nestled against a mountain, and I had no doubt the rocky terrain gave the town the needed minerals or whatever it was they were mining and working.

  Before us, brown stones and boulders were spread out, the terrain still rocky, though slightly sloping. Looking past our immediate surroundings, I could see far in the distance greenery, indicating a grassland of sorts. A trail ran from the gate, through the rocky areas, and disappeared down a hill, heading in that direction as well. Most notably though, aside from the rocks and stones and boulders was the tan-green stalks of grass, that rose out of the ground to stand about knee height. Here and there, bits of the grass wiggled.

  “Mun like to stay hidden,” the Mayor pointed as he spoke, to a patch of wiggling grass. “Smaller Mun will hide in grass, and try to ambush people. Stronger or large Mun,” he pointed towards a trio of stones that had fallen together, forming a type of cave, “will hide in the shadows. Others though, will mill about like normal, as the Mun are essentially simply the natural creatures of our world.” He looked at me, and then back at the rustling grass. “I’ll help you out, so we can get you your first Mun. And from there, well, I figure the rest is up to you.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said, rubbing my hands together. “How do we capture Mun? Are there spheres to throw at them? Or do we have to like, make pacts with them? Or nets even?”

  The Mayor rose an eyebrow. “Those seem… ineffective.” He shook his head and pointed his left hand towards the ground. A bit of concentration crossed his face, before one of the gems on his gauntlet around his wrist lit up. Light flashed from the palm of his gauntlet as energy pulsed from it, and a moment later, a Mun appeared.

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  I took a step back at the sudden appearance of the creature. It was a ten-foot snake, made of interconnecting rippling bits of black metal. It reminded me of the 3D printed snakes that were all the rage now at farmers markets… even though making them really wasn’t, well, a skill.

  “Meet my Coilosus.” The Mayor said. The snake-like metallic creature, who’s head was as large as mine, looked at me. The Coilosus had red eyes, and when it opened its mouth, a tongue made of gold flicked out, tasting the air. “He’ll see to it you can get your first Mun.”

  Without another word of explanation, the Mayor nodded at his creature. “Go get it boy.” The creature turned away from me, looked in the direction they Mayor nodded, and then slithered off with all the grace and speed of an anaconda… not a freaking metallic snake. The ground sunk under it as it twisted and turned, indicating the creature had an immense weight to it.

  In the span of seconds, the coilosus disappeared into the grass, the stalks shifting violently as its form chased towards the original sign of movement. There was a pitiful, surprised yip from what sounded a bit too much like a puppy. And then, the sound of crunching, and gears breaking. A burst of light flashed from the grass.

  “Mun are unique creatures,” the Mayor said, his words pulling me away from the horrendous sounds I’d just heard, “when they are knocked out from too much damage, they turn into their crystal forms. A Mun Crystal, carries all of the information and identity of the creature, and can be attached to a Tamer’s Gauntlet to be claimed by a Tamer. Additionally,” movement pulled my eyes back to the grass, which the coilosus was now exiting, “Mun crystals can be infused with power from the world’s core at any Mun facility in any town, which will instantly heal the Mun of any damage it has taken. Essentially, short of the Mun Crystal itself being forcibly shattered, Mun are immortal in our world, save for the possibility of dying from old age, which, well, that’s the weakness of all.” He pointed to the ground as his coilosus returned, and the snake opened its mouth to drop a small crystal onto the ground.

  Once the crystal hit the ground, the Mayor held his gauntlet towards his companion, and the coilosus returned to energy, and disappeared. The stone on his gauntlet stopped glowing, the only sign of the massive metal creature to remain was the indents in the ground carved out by its slithering body.

  “Place that Mun Crystal into your gauntlet,” the Mayor instructed me, “and you will experience, first hand, the power that a Tamer’s Gauntlet carries with it. This, will be your first step to becoming a proper Tamer, and will, hopefully, provide a better explanation of what it means to be a Tamer, than anything I could actually tell you.”

  I knelt down and grabbed the crystal. It was the size of a penny, slightly hot to touch, and somehow felt extremely fragile. I looked once at the old Mayor, before I set it against the slot on my wrist. Warmth rushed over me as the gauntlet burned with power. The gem disappeared from my hand, turning into light for a moment, before it settled into the first slot of the six, right at the center of the back of my wrist. It shone with a bright light for a moment, before dimming.

  “Now what—” was all I could say, before power erupted from the gauntlet into me, and new information filled my mind.